Meme's the word: US lawmakers want to 'blow ISIS out of the water' with...the internet

While the US is fighting ISIS intensively on the ground, some lawmakers also want Washington to take the battle online. One even proposed using internet memes, noting that the terrorist group has successfully used them to further its mission.

During a 'Jihad 2.0'
hearing on social media and terrorism, the Senate Homeland
Securities and Government Affairs Committee discovered that the
Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) has managed to attract the
interest of 62 people in the US through social media.

The interested online parties either tried to join IS (some
successfully) or supported others in doing so. Of the 62 people,
53 were very active on social media, downloading jihadist
propaganda. Some of them directly communicated with IS.

But Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) had just the answer to the problem
– and it didn't involve deadly weapons or military troops.

“Let’s face it: We invented the Internet. We invented the
social network sites. We’ve got Hollywood. We’ve got the
capabilities…to blow these guys out of the water from the
standpoint of communications,” he said.

He was supported by Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), who had an
unconventional trick up his sleeve: internet memes.

“Look at their fancy memes compared to what we’re not
doing,” Booker said while clutching print-outs of ISIS
memes.

He said the Islamic State is busying making “slick, fancy and
attractive” videos, while the US is spending “millions
and millions on old school forms of media.”

A prolific user of Twitter, Booker said he knows “something
about memes.” He became a viral sensation himself after
rescuing his neighbor from a burning building in 2012.

The heroic move inspired his own Twitter hashtag, with social
media users sharing their own (false) superhero encounters with
Booker. One user tweeted that when he needed a kidney, Booker
“instantly ripped out his own, handed it to me & flew
away.”

The hearing, titled 'Jihad 2.0: Social Media in the Next
Evolution of Terrorist Recruitment,' is part of an ongoing
attempt by Congress to identify ways to thwart efforts by
overseas terrorists to lure foreign fighters or incite jihadists
to commit attacks inside the US.